Unacclaimed

The CP reports that the Cons' efforts to insulate Rob Anders from any effective nomination challenge have been held invalid by the Court of Queen's Bench:

An Alberta judge has overturned the controversial Tory acclamation of Calgary MP Rob Anders and ordered a new nomination meeting.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Jed Hawco issued a court order instructing the Conservative Party of Canada to restart the nomination process in Calgary West.

Eleven disgruntled Tories have been fighting Anders' unchallenged nomination since last summer, claiming the party did not widely advertise important dates or adequately search for qualified candidates.

What's particularly remarkable is that from the article, it sounds like the reason for restarting the nomination process may not have been based on the most obvious flaw in the Cons' handling of the riding - namely, their arbitrary disqualification of another candidate who seemingly managed to meet the nomination requirements despite the lack of proper advertising or candidate search processes. Of course, that'll have to be confirmed once the detailed reasons are available.

But regardless of the precise reasons, today's ruling confirms that the Cons are falling short of basic principles of fairness in deciding who'll represent them in the next election. And that disregard for natural justice internally only highlights why the Con government has been similarly disinterested in fair processes when it comes to developing policy which affects all Canadians.